Tony Hoagland on honesty and compassion

In an interview with Laura McCullough in new south, volume 3, number 2, a poet I much admire, Tony Hoagland, says:

“If I were honest and compassionate, I would greet every other person I meet with the phrase, ‘Hello, my fellow sufferer,’ or ‘Greetings, you hopelessly foolish soul.’”

I would like to meet someone who greets me in this way.